


Bangtan After Dark

by BangtanAfterDark



Category: Bangtan, Beyond the scene, bangtan sonyeondan, bts, 방탄소년단 - Fandom
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Celebrity, Alternate Universe - Law Enforcement, Alternate Universe - Stripper/Exotic Dancer, Angst, Art, Cake, Cats, Celebrities, Chaptered, Clans, Conglomerate, Contemporary Fantasy, Corporations, Crime, Dark Fantasy, Drama, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Entertainment Industry, Everyone Needs A Hug, F/F, F/M, Family Drama, Flashbacks, Gangs, Government Agencies, Graphic Description, Graphic Sex, Graphic Violence, Horror, Humor, International, Law Enforcement, Law firms, Lawyers, Long-Distance Relationship, Los Angeles, M/M, Magic, Mayhem, Mental Anguish, Mental Institutions, Multi, Multinational, Music, Mystery, New York, Night Clubs, Normani Kordei - Freeform, Organized Crime, Other, PoC, Police, Press and Tabloids, Psychological Drama, Psychological Horror, Psychologists & Psychiatrists, Romance, Sex, South Korea - Freeform, Supernatural Elements, Thriller, Urban Fantasy, Violence, celebrity, city life, clubs, dance, explicit - Freeform, fashion - Freeform, long story, music industry, preternatural, snacks, tribes, woc, wonho - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-10
Updated: 2020-03-11
Packaged: 2020-03-30 22:22:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19036774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BangtanAfterDark/pseuds/BangtanAfterDark
Summary: Bangtan Sonyeondan is biggest music group in the world. They and their four companies top Forbes as among the wealthiest, and most influential in music, pop culture, arts, and humanitarian efforts for last three years. They're happy and successful.While the world knows BTS as seven performers of art and music, they can never know their hidden lives. That they perform a balancing act between two worlds.The preternatural/supernatural world is real. These communities exist in semi-anonymity alongside everyone else. Members of Bangtan live within these worlds.The wealth and influence they accumulate build 저항력, a protective shield BH maintains over their companies. It conceals the members’ identities, protecting them, their families and loved ones, keeping them safe from dangerous entities and corrupt agendas.A shocking, devastating event suddenly changes everything. Overnight, Bangtan suffers tragedy and loss, including the loss of their protection and home.Fractured, forced to relocate to recover and to protect loved ones, they find themselves in Los Angeles, the largest stronghold of preternatural and magic in the world. It's a new home, but a place more dangerous to them than their last.





	1. Intro:Confluence, Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> Preternatural- existing outside of nature. Exceeding what is natural or regular. Extraordinary. Inexplicable by ordinary means. Aberrant. Abnormal. Freak. Odd. Phenomenal. Rare. 
> 
> Supernatural - Relating to an order of existence beyond the visible observable universe. Relating to God, a god, demigod, spirit or devil. To transcend the laws of nature. Invisible agent
> 
> There is no North Korea, and there never was. There is only what's currently known as South Korea, which is simply called Korea. It's President is President Moon. 
> 
> There is no DT or T family and there never was. The President of the United States is Barrack Obama.
> 
> This is fiction and not meant to accurately represent any real person living or dead. 
> 
> BAD is a long story with long story lines. Fair warning for those looking for "one shot" type scenarios, short story, or temporary characters.
> 
> Not a Smut. But see tags.
> 
> I'll be adding the story on a new Twitter acct: @BangtanAftrDark <\--same name as here, no "e" .

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Intro: Confluence is a prologue. This is part 1.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is one of this story's prologues. (There was no option for 'Prologue', only 'Chapter 1', so it's stuck in Chapter 1 )

About one second after he watched Jerry press send on his phone, Namjoon’s heart dropped like a rock in his chest.That was the moment. That’s when he admitted to himself that he felt guilty. Not just responsible, but guilty. And that was a different kind of wound.

It wasn’t only because of what they were about to do, it was for all of it. For Jungkook. For Yoongi’s arm. For the article, for the breech… The list in his mind was long and he hadn’t reached the end. Logically, he knew he wasn’t to blame. But guilt ate his insides anyway. Betrayal and anger was much bigger than his logic at the moment. He thought about how he’d done things the way he was supposed to, but he was still watching them being pulled under. This city had stabbed him in the back… if it’d been a thing that had a neck, he would’ve happily closed his hands around it.

The ache in his hands got his attention and Namjoon realized he was clenching his fists. Probably had been for the entirety of the last twenty minutes Jerry had just spent talking to them, ensuring everyone understood their part and exactly what to do. His arms were folded tight against his body, he knew no one could see him subduing the rage that just flushed through him again, but he felt Hoseok behind him, studying him from across the room. He dropped his arms then, rolling his shoulders, trying to shake that stare, but it was an itch burrowing his back. His friend was doing the thing he did, where he stared at a person until he understood…everything. Whether the person under his gaze wanted him to know or not. Inside his head Namjoon could almost hear Hoseok’s attention, but he ignored it. He would have to wait. There wasn’t time, and he knew the two of them would do it all over again later.

 _Later_ … He looked around the room then at the ten of them, siting or standing together in this circle, waiting to act out a plan formed out of desperation. His mind swam and the anger was dampened again by fear. What kind of ‘later’ would they have after this?..

 

 

The two floor library suddenly seemed much smaller than just a few hours ago, as they all sat clustered together on the ground floor in silence. That one text from his phone drove the tension in the room to levels that were both draining and catalyzing. The plan had been formed, violently argued, calmly discussed, argued again, then finally accepted. There was nothing between their point of no return and now, except nervous energy.

Namjoon watched them study phones, books scattered on tables, art on the walls, each other… Focusing anywhere in the room other than directly in front of them, that single chair at the center of their circle. Where the worst of it was.

His extended Kaws collection, two 10 x 8ft glass cases that covered two walls, had been inspected by nearly everyone in the last hour who didn’t know what to do with their nerves. The others watched whoever had a sudden interest in his collection as they comically navigated their way through the library, sticking close to the walls, giving the center of the room a wide berth. They even avoided looking, as if it truly were a black hole they’d be pulled into.

Everyone except Jungkook. He sat on top of the library’s over-sized desk, with his legs crossed in lotus, eating a fruit creamsicle. He flipped through books in his lap, pausing occasionally to lift his head and stare intently across their circle at the chair’s occupant. Who silently stared back. They silently and intently stared at each other, and when ever they did the whole room held it’s breath. No one wanted to see what would happen, but everyone needed to know.

 

 

  
After Jerry used Namjoon’s phone to send the text, he stepped back and moved to the side of the Kaws case where he and Namjoon stood, taking up a position nearest to the library’s double oak doors. It was the best line of sight to the room’s only entrance from the lobby.

Watching Jerry actually prepare made his stomach flip and Namjoon was about to move away from him and put as much space between the two of them as possible, when he paused.

Now that they were all just waiting, a nagging curiosity that’d been smothered underneath layers of panic finally broke the surface and now got the best of him. Namjoon stepped back and looked their him from head to toe and fully observed for the first time what Jerry was wearing.

The hot pink, neon green and black tie-dye t-shirt had the giant neon-green head of a Roswell alien in the center, stretched even wider across his broad chest. The alien was crying, gushing neon-green sludge out of enormous black orbs for eyes, with the slogan _“Don’t Be Sad, Be Rad”_ encircling the alien’s head in slimey green and hot pink letters.The shirt stopped at the top of his thighs, so everyone got a full look at the shorts. Stopping just above his knee, the shorts were an eye-watering neon green, and featured a pattern of hot pink monkey faces. The monkeys were wearing purple headphones. From there, the eye traveled down his muscular legs to Jerry’s feet, tucked into large bright green pool sandals, which had Kermit the Frog’s face on them. Jerry’s toes were painted black, like his nails. Namjoon recognized the flip flops, Hoseok had given everyone a pair for last Christmas. Hoseok had not given everyone the special blood-splattered version that Jerry was wearing.

The six-two, athletically built man in front of him clashed violently with everything, yet did not seem one bit out of place. Because he was Jerry. And because of what their life had become. The black strap of a semi-automatic rifle across his torso and the muzzle peeking over his shoulder interrupted the hilarious nature of his outfit, but added to the ludicrous nature of everything else. Namjoon was sure the others had gaped at him when he walk through the doors hours ago, but no one had asked.They’d learned within the first month of having him as their security director that it was sometimes better for everyone to not ask Jerry a single question.

  
Jin’s voice cut straight through Namjoon’s thoughts and across the room from where he sat behind the library’s largest desk. He rolled the leather chair sideways to see around Jungkook, getting the full unobstructed view. “Jerry, I need earplugs to look at you.What the hell?”

  
Laughter broke out, genuine, echoing around the massive library. Just the sound of it perforated the tension, and Namjoon even felt a wash of relief he didn’t expect as he watched the others seize the moment, barreling through the door Jin had opened. The comments came at Jerry from every direction as they all begin at once.

  
“…that’s terrifying….”  
“Mani, this doing something for you? I can do this for you--”  
“…I would break up with you…”  
“… I don't remember what “rad” means, but it looks bad…”  
“Jin, you have shorts exactly like that…”  
“ what were you doing, Jerry, before you saw the bat signal…”  
“Just tell me if anyone else with eyes saw you walk in here…”  
“… where the hell were you ?”

  
Their relationship with Jerry had progressed to the point where they understood that he didn’t have to answer their questions. He was in fact paid very well not to. And Jerry never lied. So if giving them answers was more than necessary, or put security at risk, he could ignore them, all day every day. Or not. It was his call. So since it was his call, they often tossed random questions at him just to see what would stick. Sometimes they got nothing for weeks. Other times, he’d answer and somebody would feel like not sleeping alone.

Amused as always by their eagerness for getting into his business, Jerry pulled the rifle off over his head and leaned it against the wall behind him. He responded only to the last question.

“The valley.”

  
“And what’s happening in the valley tonight?” Jin held his hand to his mouth as if speaking into a mic, and then held it out in Jerry’s direction for his response.  
“His Kermits are bloody,” Namjoon stated flatly.  
Jin squinted down at Jerry’s feet then rolled his chair back. “Nevermind.”  
Jungkook and Jimin both turned to frown at him.  
“I wanted to hear it.”  
“Same.”

  
Giving them nothing more, Jerry held out Namjoon’s phone. He didn’t let go of it when the other tried to to take it, but locked eyes with the leader. “Are you sure about this?”  
Namjoon’s eyes went wide then, in that scary way that none of them liked. “ _Me_??" His hand was a fist again. "What the fuck? “This is not my plan, this is _your_ plan.”

  
“I know,” Jerry reassured, putting a hand on his shoulder. “I wasn’t expressing doubt about it. I just have to know that you’re sure, that’s all. You have to actually say it.”

  
Namjoon exhaled a breath, nodding more to himself than Jerry. He took his phone back and and tapped the screen before putting it away. The message they’d just sent was still there. Underneath it was the immediate reply. The rock in his chest turned to ice. He knew it was all in his head, but the phone felt heavier in his pocket than just two minutes ago. He was looking at Jerry but spoke loud enough for everyone to hear it. “Yes. I’m sure.”

  
Jerry turned to Hoseok then, who’d finally settled on the arm of the couch across the room.  
Hoseok nodded.The plan’s design was half his. “Yes.”  
They went around, each of them giving verbal confirmation. Taehyung’s “I guess” didn’t satisfy Jerry.  
“You have to be sure.”

  
Taehyung sighed hard, irritated, scrubbing long fingers through his blue hair. He looked at Normani. She was standing with Yoongi several feet from away, at the desk with Jin and Jungkook. 

  
Normani looked at Taehyung wearing an expression that made her heart pinch. She knew he was afraid for her safety, but there was something else in his dark brown eyes, she couldn’t read. Which made her worry, because she and Taehyung always understood each other. But she shook her head at him now, her expression soft, “I’m doing it.”

Taehyung was resigned to every part of their plan except hers, he didn’t want her to be a part of it. He’d argued for two hours against it, but was out-voted. Jimin had taken Normani’s side, which had leveled up the arguing to yelling for a solid twenty minutes.   
“What difference does it make now?” he asked Jerry, sitting forward on the couch, His anxiety called his anger, and his anger rekindled room like a spark. Everyone went still again, as if the air had a sharp edge no one wanted to touch. He still held the empty bottle of soju he’d finished earlier and there was a small but audible pop, as cracks appeared in the thick green glass. “Namjoon said we’re doing it. It doesn't matter what I think now.”

  
“It does actually.” Jerry replied directly. “This can’t be a decision made for many by one. At least five of you have to be certain.”

Namjoon frowned. At first he thought Jerry was just being his usual thorough self by questioning each of them, but the way he’d said “certain” made Namjoon think the ‘c’ was capitalized. He was immediately suspicious. “Why?”

“Balance.” The deep rumble of Yoongi’s voice resonated smoothly through the agitated space like a balm. He’d been been quiet for awhile, leaning with his butt on the desk, opposite Jungkook’s corner. His dark hair was still damp from the shower they'd yanked him from and, still wet, he’d quickly pulled on a pair of black sweats and a black hoodie. His feet were still bare and he’d seemed to be studying his toes squishing the rug for the last ten minutes. He looked at Namjoon when he answered. ”We’re tipping the balance. More in favor than against.”

  
Jerry nodded. “Basically." He was often impressed by Yoongi's precise grasp of situations that he seemingly had no experience with. "Majority rules, literally. If you have any kind of stalemate it won’t work. The more certainty, the better.”

“The better what??” A disturbed giggle erupted to the right of where Yoongi stood.. “The better…what..I still don’t know…But Suga’s smart so...and his toes are so cute…look at his toes...”  
During the loudest of the arguing he’d become a mute, but now Emerson was back to being crazy, frantically pacing a groove in the floor behind the couch where Hoseok, Jimin and Taehyung sat. He was sweating so badly his brown hair was plastered to his head, sweat stains were visible under his armpits and the back of his gray Rolling Stone tee was drenched dark.  
He stopped suddenly, eyes wild. ”You…you guys are sick!….” He shook his head hard, flinging sweat through the air, drops landing across the back of their leather couch.

Jimin turned and shot him a heated look. “Shut _up_. And stop doing that shit behind me.”

  
Before more could be said, or done, Hoseok blocked the journalist from resuming his mindless behavior and pointed him to the empty chair at the end of the couch next to him, and furthest away from Jimin. Whatever was happening to Emerson had made their group involuntary babysitters, at the worst possible time, of the worst possible person. The journalist collapsed into the chair as if relieved he’d been forced to sit. His chest heaved as he sat there clenched, gripping the arms.

Hoseok studied him and wondered why the blooming, swollen mess of bruises and raw skin that was the entire left side of his face did not trigger Emerson’s sense of self-preservation against Jimin, since their earlier encounter had not gone well for him. Something more was wrong with the man…

  
“Well, you have Jimin. That’s seven, so that puts us over.” Taehyung finished, completely ignoring Emerson’s outburst, as he and everyone else had tried to do for the last hour.

  
“You’re right” Jerry understood his objection, but he needed Taehyung to be committed.”We just need you.”

   
With that Taehyung sat back and sighed again, staring at the shattered bottle between his hands. He knew Yoongi was watching him...he felt his anger pulling away. “I know. You got me.” He wouldn’t let anything happen to his family, no matter how worried he was. And the rest…he wouldn’t know until it was over.

  
Jerry looked at Jungkook who was the last and hadn’t actually said. “JK?”

  
Jungkook popped his half eaten ice cream out of his mouth and into the trash can next to the desk. He sat his book aside and with the grace and fluidity of a big cat, unfolded his long legs and hopped off the desk.

The chair’s occupant shifted in his seat.

It was barely noticeable, invisible under ordinary circumstances by anyone else. But their circumstances were not ordinary. And none of them were anyone else. He hadn’t spoken a word in three and half hours, hadn’t moved. Not even to test his restraints. And now everyone saw him react for the first time.

  
All eyes were back on Jungkook then, and everyone watched as he stretched, languidly, pulling his hoodie off over his head. He dropped it on the floor and walked towards the center of the room, gliding softly on bare feet... pulling his t-shirt off, dropping it...thick muscles, defined and toned from his latest adventures, worked in his chest and arms as he unbuttoned the black jeans and peeled them off and tossed them into the pile. He stopped a few feet in front of the man tied to the chair, wearing only his fitted black boxer briefs. They both stared at each other with a mixture of curiosity and hatred, stoking that tension between them that was crawling under everyone else’s skin.

Jerry nodded. “I’ll take that as a 'yes'.”

  
Yoongi saw Normani’s mouth was still open as she stared at the back of mostly-naked Jungkook, having gotten a full view of his strip show catwalk. He shook his head. “Sorry.”  
She quickly closed her mouth and faced him.”Why?”  
“I won’t look as good doing it.” Unzipping his hoodie more slowly than necessary he pulled it off and lay it on the desk.

He wasn’t wearing a shirt and her eyes instinctively dropped from his face to the smooth skin of his chest, the muscles of his stomach and lower at the trail of soft dark hair disappearing into the band of his black sweats. Because she was unable to look away, and because she was already nervous and had no control over the impulse, Normani licked her lips while staring at the crotch of Yoongi’s pants.

“I…” she started, but the heat flushing her face betrayed her. She shrugged, barely able to meet his eyes after the thought she'd just had about the inside of his sweatpants. "Hell, me either.” As smoothly as she could, she pulled her own shirt off over her head and dropped it on the desk, standing in front of him in her bra.   
Yoongi's lips were curving into that small smile he wore when he was about to say something chaotic, but he didn’t get the chance.

“So...you all have ten minutes.” Jerry combed fingers through his short but curly black hair and put his ear piece back in. He tapped his watch, starting a countdown no one wanted.


	2. Intro: Confluence Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi. Just the other part of the prologue. :)

There were bursts of profanity, followed by a surge of activity that left a pile of phones shelved out of harm’s reach, the remaining small furniture pushed into the perimeter, and the library swirling with frenetic energy.

Jerry slouched against the wall, arms crossed over his alien’s face, waiting for them to settle again. Assessing everyone’s positions along their circle:  
Thirty feet across the room from him: Namjoon and Hoseok, the journalist, just left…Jimin and Taehyung on the sofa directly across from him… Yoongi and Normani at the desk wtih Jin, to his right…Jungkook and their guest, (the others would not refer to him by any name) about fifteen feet in front of him, in the center.

"You all know what to do. Just stay out of here.” He pointed to the wide open space to his immediate left, the path leading to the elevator and the stairs.

“Does it matter that he sat there and listened to our whole conversation about this?” Normani asked. The guest had begun to ignore everyone else except Jungkook, so she spared a longer look at him than she had all night, and immediately regretted it.  
“No.” Jin answered, glancing over at Hoseok. “Don’t worry.”

  
“What about me, what do I do??” Emerson had managed in just two minutes to gouge scratches into the arms of the rich leather of his chair and bathe it in his body fluids. The tips of his nails were tearing, bloody. Namjoon frowned at the way he was definitely gonna have to throw his favorite reading chair out, wondering what else Emerson’s deterioration had taken it’s toll on before they’d gotten to him.  
He was now asking the same question he’d been asking for an hour. Everyone had ignored him for that hour, except Jimin, who’d told him to both 'shut the fuck up' and 'say something else'.

“Nothing. Just be still. And quiet.” Hoseok told him, putting a finger to his own lips. He was still treating him with kid gloves for multiple reasons, and glanced to gauge Jimin’s reaction, but Jimin’s attention was abruptly elsewhere.

  
 Her focus on what Jerry was saying wavered when Normani felt that strange but familiar sensation… a warmth that tickled over her skin and fluttered against the insides of her belly like a manic butterfly, it happened sometimes when she was the center of her lover’s attention. She turned to see Jimin and Taehyung had fixed intensely curious stares on her and Yoongi.

Taehyung was taking his man-spreading to another level, knees wide, arm thrown across the back of the sofa. The nonchalant expression he tried to pin on her was unconvincing, his eyes held too much passion. He was silent, sulky and beautiful.  
   
Jimin was perched on the edge of the sofa, fingers playing with the buttons on his black silk shirt. He and Taehyung were still dressed in their suits, jackets off. Their jewelry would occasionally catch light from the floor lamp and add a subtle sparkle effect to them where they sat in dark Armani against the black leather sofa, dipped in diamond light. They looked like they should still be back at the club instead of sitting in a library.

When they'd first walked into the room together, she'd stopped talking in mid-sentence. Not really wanting to fully expose herself in front of Jin, but unable to stop it, she watched every move as they stepped off the elevator and crossed the room to where Namjoon was. They were both wearing slightly different styles of the black suit Armani had recently sent them. Perfectly tailored to fit each of them, the rich dark fabric hugged the curves of their thighs, shoulders and the rest of their bodies in all the right places. The two of them standing side by side, she often thought about how much alike the two of them were, despite how physically different they were. As they stood across the library with their backs to her, Normani stared at the back of Jimin's head for entirely too long, willing him to turn around, and when he did she wasn't ready. His full lips curved into a smile and she had to press her knees together.  Even fully dressed, Jimin and Taehyung looked like someone should be making it rain on them. A lot.

  
Sitting on the sofa now, eyeing her with a thirsty grin, Jimin popped his top button open with dramatic flair.

She couldn’t help but laugh, which made her breasts bounce in her black lace demi more than she wanted with Yoongi standing in front of her. There was no reason for Jimin to take off his shirt. “What are _you_ doing?”  

He popped two more buttons. “Trying to keep up. I saw how you looked at Jungkook. I thought we were about to do something completely different in here…”    
He ducked as a pen from the desk came flying towards him. “JK!…” He called, laughing at her mortified expression as she quickly searched the desk for something else to throw.

“What makes you think you can keep up?” Yoongi asked dryly, handing her a large hardback.

Taehyung's face broke into a grin.

 

_“Eight minutes”…_

 

“I don’t know if this whole plan just changed, but whatever you’re about to do, I have the best view.”

Yoongi and Normani both turned to look at Jin who sat behind them at the desk, swiveling in his chair.

“Just saying. There’s a lotta heat coming off this side of the room.” He took out his phone and aimed the camera straight ahead. From his position he could easily capture the entire room. He did have the best view.Normani raised her eyebrows at him, blocking the lens. “Not today.”  
He adopted a serious expression. “It’s literally for science. Hobi, tell her…”  
“Don’t drag me into it… But yeah, kind of.”  
She turned to frown at Hoseok and found him staring. She realized then everyone was staring.

“What?” She crossed her arms. “Everyone here has seen me almost completely naked at some point.”

  
"Not me. Fuck, you’re beautiful. … hey when I interviewed you that time...that whole time.. I wished I could taste your pu--…”  
   
Namjoon and Taehyung moved in unison, like they were dancing together. A fast choreography to save stupid journalists.  
Taehyung grabbed Jimin around his chest from behind as Namjoon ducked underneath his arm, which held a fistful of Emerson by the shirt. It would have been by the throat if Taehyung had not seen it coming and been just as fast. They’d both launched off the sofa so abruptly, the force of it sent the whole thing careening backward into the book shelves.

" _Say it_ ..." Jimin's voice was deceptively calm, and definitely did not match his energy. That annihilative force battered the four men's bodies and senses, even as Taehyung tightened his hold to control him…

Emerson was emitting a sound that was a mixture of squealing, laughing, and crying as Namjoon wedged his body between the two of them, working on Jimin’s vice-grip…”Okay, Jimin, okay…” his tone was even, understanding. The sound of tearing fabric as Emerson’s shirt was being ripped from his body meant Jimin only got a hold of his clothes and not his flesh. Namjoon didn’t know whether to be glad about it or not.  
“Not now, right?…” he gently reminded, holding onto Jimin arms even though Jimin was using Emerson’s shredding shirt like a handy rope to pull him closer. The journalist’s squealing became more high-pitched when digging his heels in wasn’t working for him at all and he realized full contact was imminent.

Taehyung, feeling the call growing inside him, fought to remain calm himself. He sighed as hairs on his arms stood straight up in goosebumps and his scalp prickled with heat. His brother’s anger fell like a blanket of needles over his skin . “Jimin...”

Namjoon looked to Hoseok for assistance, but saw that he’d simply retrieved his phone to record them. He barely hid his fascination as he watched the four of them struggle with chaos through his phone screen, Taehyung trying to tear Jimin away, pulling one direction, hysterical Emerson, trying to save his life, pulling another, he and Jimin sandwiched between them arm wrestling over pieces of the man, like two kids fighting for rights to a toy.

The pleading way Namjoon then looked at Taehyung, a thin sheen of sweat covering his face, Taehyung thought for a serious moment he’d have to really hold Jimin, which required more time than they had. But after several seconds more of struggle, and Emerson’s piss puddling the floor, repelling everyone, he felt Jimin relaxing against him. The needles in his skin fell away as quickly as they’d come. "Okay?..." he said softly next to his ear before relaxing his bear hug.  
   
He understood. Jimin was as tense as everyone else. He was worried, too, afraid. He joked around, but it was for other’s benefit, too. It was why he’d sided with Normani over him. He wasn’t any less worried for her than he was. He’d just wanted her to feel safe with all of them, and not afraid.  
He released Jimin, slapping him on the shoulders, then the ass. "Come on." He looked back across the room at a wide-eyed Normani, and winked playfully. _He's fine..._

But Taehyung doubted Emerson would be so lucky to have Jimin put his hands on him again and not meet critical condition . He didn’t really blame him. They were all sick of Emerson. Taehyung didn’t understand how Yoongi could even stand to be in the same room with him.

Namjoon took hold of the man and pushed him towards Hoseok. “If we didn’t need him…”

Hoseok looked puckish, showing him his phone. “I almost went live.”

 

_“Six minutes...”_

 

Jimin stood with his palms together, eyes closed, like he was praying. He inhaled and exhaled slowly, then pointed.  “Stand over there.”

   
Emerson’s wide eyes followed the direction of his aim. The distant corner was very much outside of the circle. He didn’t want to go. He turned to protest, but whatever he saw on Jimin's face made him recoil. He looked around for help, but seeing no one was about to give him an assist, he backed towards the designated corner until he felt the safety of the wall on his back.

Jimin shook his head. “Turn around. You put your face on that fucking wall. If I see your face again, I’m ripping your eyelids off.”

Taehyung rubbed his hands over his face, tired. He’d seen Jimin rip enough things for one week. “Please don’t turn around.”

“I’d like to see it.” Jungkook replied, standing there with his arm crossed, watching the scene wearing nothing but his underwear in front of a man tied to a chair.

Taehyung frowned. "You're about to see plenty."

  
As the journalist tried to pretend he was suddenly part of a wall, Yoongi watched Hoseok debate seriously with Jimin and Jimin coolly mime what Yoongi could only assume was the act of eyelid ripping for Hoseok.  
He looked at Normani, who had watched the entire scene with sympathy and a small amount of fear, and shook his head. “That’s your boyfriend”

  
She smacked him lightly on his bicep. ”Leave him alone. He’s had a bad couple of days.”

“Couple?  After this is over, I’m gonna tell you about Trader Joes. “

Normani gasped, tucking her lips in to stifle the shriek that tried to escape her. Taehyung had already told her about what happened a Trader Joes. Even now, the picture he’d painted in telling the story was so vivid she had to suppress laughing out loud. When he’d jumped and danced around her living room, reenacting every second, she’d laughed until physically hurt, crying on the floor, begging him to stop. And now Yoongi knew, too.

Normani put her hand over her own mouth, smothering laughter. She could tell by the gleam in his eye Yoongi was definitely going to retell it, to everyone. “Don't do it.”

  
HIs lips curled into that small smile. “He’ll be alright. Ready?"

  
It took a second for her to realize he was no longer talking about Jimin or his stories. It seemed he was keeping track of the time just fine. “Oh.“ She looked around the room at everyone else, who'd already regrouped and suddenly felt the weight of being out of your depth and also out of options. “Yes. ...no? ”

She gasped, trying to control the powerful shivers that shot through her body in waves when Yoongi's hands slid around her waist. His fingers pressed firmly, almost demanding, into the sensitive skin of her lower back as he pulled her closer until their bodies were pressed together...

 

_"Four minutes."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bear with me, I don't have my wifi and apparently I can't upload from my clipboard on this site on my mobile, it doesn't allow my browser?? I'm doing it it parts when I can! Will post the last part of this asap. Thanks!!


	3. Intro: Confluence - Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final part of the prologue to this story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter is actually chapter 1. 😁

It was very obvious during the last few hours, that while everyone else had argued with each other, Jungkook was mostly silent. He’d had no indecision. He offered no opposing viewpoints, asked no questions. 

He did answer questions. A lot of them. It was the most open discussion they’d had all together in awhile, since this was a legitimate crisis, and there was no space for sensitive feelings or bullshit in a legitimate crisis.They could ask him anything and they did. 

  
They wanted to know what he wanted to do, and why. They wanted to understand what he was capable of doing. Most of all, they all seemed to find different ways of asking if he would be “okay”.

  
He ignored the undertones of that one, and answered every question in a succinct, almost clinical manner. His eyes flicked to Hoseok once or twice, to gauge whether or not he was saying too much, too much detail, but his hyung was watching him with an easy expression and seemed satisfied. 

  
When they were out of questions for him, he'd just sat and waited. Jin, seated behind him at the desk, would occasionally hear him quietly humming a tune as he turned pages in a book, snacking on whatever he'd taken next from library kitchen. Jin stared at the boy's broad back and shoulders and wasn't sure how to feel. He knew a happy Jungkook when he saw one, no matter how cool he was trying to play it. The kid was eager to uwrap an astonishingly horrific present.

 

Whenever Jungkook had watched the man, the library became thick with a palpable air of anticipation that made half the room uncomfortable. And now on Jerry's count of four minutes, he made them even more uncomfortable. 

When he circled the man, padding silently on bare feet, studying, appraising…naked… Hoseok couldn’t help but think of predators. Things that glided beneath black waters, stalked you in the dark. Things that finished you before your mind even had a chance to comprehend that it had you, and you were gone. He appreciated the realization that this is what it was like to watch an encounter between two predators who should have never crossed paths.

  
The man watched Jungkook now, with a neutral gaze, following him with just his eyes until he vanished behind him out of view. When the other man stopped and stood directly behind him, he stared straight ahead, through Seokjin, ignoring anything or anyone else. The anxiety in the room was at the highest level again and they definitely maintained that position as they all watched the maknae bend down, nose hovering in the man’s hair, and sniff the top of his head. 

"Jesus..."

  
Hoseok shot a glance at Namjoon. He was watching with wide eyes, suddenly paler than he’d been a second ago. He watched his friend open his mouth to say something, not know what to say, and close it. Then under his breath, as if to himself, Namjoon questioned,  "We are we doing…."

  
Hoseok could not take his eyes off the center of the room. "He'll be okay."

  
Namjoon spun on him then, his whisper harsh. " _Don’t_ do that. You wanted this. The both of you."  The edge to his voice was laced with panic, and Hoseok pulled his attention away from the scene to look Namjoon in the eyes. Those eyes were about to see things much worse then he could have prepared him for.

  
“I know. And I’m sorry.”  He really was sorry. He still had not even told Namjoon everything. Only just enough to get them all through the night. He was confident that Jungkook would be okay. Jimin and Taehyung more than leveled the playing field, he knew that from firsthand experience. That was another thing he hadn’t told Namjoon. That he’d seen what was about to happen before.

“They won’t let anything happen to him.” 

  
Namjoon swallowed the lump forming in his throat. “There’s more than one way to be hurt, Hoseok.”

  
Hoseok looked away then, before Namjoon could see agreement of that truth reflected in his eyes. The seven of them were living proof of that. Some wounds were more devastating than anything that could have been physically inflicted. 

"He'll be okay.” he repeated softly...

 

_“Two minutes…”_

  
    
Soft hair tickled his nose as Jungkook hovered. The crisp, slightly wood scent of some expensive hair product…underneath that the warm scent of vanilla and honey shampoo he’d used…under that the salty heat of his scalp…and underneath that…a flicker.

He closed his eyes, tilting his head, hair as soft as silk brushing his cheek. In his mind he saw it. A tendril. Blood red, just like before. A wet, serpentine looking thing...curling up out of the dark… curious. He inhaled deeply, drawing on that scent to reach it, pulling along a tenuous connection..a confidence that it wanted him as much as he wanted it...

His head exploded in white hot pain as his exploration was cut off in a vicious block. The tendril was snatched away, and before he could chase it, he was hit again.

The snarl that filled his mind was a massive thing. Older, powerful intellect. It promised to push his skull open from the inside. When shards of pain blew through the back of his skull and shot into his neck and down his spine with breathtaking speed, he knew it wasn't an idle threat.  Jungkook's eyes snapped open and his vision swam as he held the back of the chair, steadying himself. He was halfway there…

  
He returned to stand in front, looking the man over one last time as he was. He wore a designer white dress shirt, tucked into black slacks. His wrists, secured behind him using two different methods, had been wearing a watch and a bracelet, which they had taken away, along with his ring. They’d also taken his shoes and socks, so his bare feet were planted firmly on the carpet. His toes and Jungkook’s were an inch apart. Jungkook watched his feet as he wiggled his own toes playfully. He looked up in time to see the other man also looking up from the floor. The arrogant, commanding look he gave the maknae was clear: _Don’t touch me._

Jungkook swung his leg over the man’s lap and sat, straddling him. The vintage chair gave a small creak, protesting the weight of two large men. The chair's seat was low to the floor, and the man’s legs were long, which put him in a slight slouch position, so Jungkook was able to sit comfortably on his knees, leaving small space between them. The powerful thigh muscles beneath his flexed once, testing his weight. Jungkook responded with his own flex, pinning the legs beneath him so they couldn’t move again. 

_...flicker..._

  
Carefully, almost gently, he began to unbutton the man’s shirt. He took his time, brushing his fingers along the skin, that other part of him savoring the undoing…his wavy dark hair fell like a curtain across his forehead in front of his eyes as he watched his fingers work, down to the last button where it met the pants. He yanked the shirt free, flinging it open, exposing the impressive, well built upper body. He stared at the space on his chest in front of his heart and touched it delicately with his fingertips.  That warning snarl lashed him again and he saw stars.

When he raised his eyes, he found the man quiet, calmly studying him back as closely as Jungkook had studied him. His rich brown eyes roamed over Jungkook’s body before settling on his face. He stared into his eyes for a moment, then through them, at something beyond. His gaze flicked left to right, back and forth, as if he were reading things carved into the back of the other man’s skull. When he finished he was looking at Jungkook with a different kind of expression Jungkook couldn't quite read. He knew he didn't like it. He ignored it and pressed his hand there, feeling the soft repeating pulse of a heart beating.

  
_“Sixty seconds…”_

  
Jerry, who' d been getting a nonstop stream of chatter in his earpiece, pulled his sidearm from the holster. He screwed the suppressor into the place, and braced his arm on the wall, aiming the muzzle past Namjoon and Hoseok, through the foyer. He knew all eyes were suddenly on him again.  “It won’t be deafening, but it’s still gonna be loud," he warned,trying to prep them for that level of distraction.   
 

Jungkook heard Yoongi behind him, saying something in a reassuring tone to Normani.  But they, and everyone else, were slowly becoming muted. The man in his grip was surround sound. He looked to his right. Jimin and Taehyung were both sitting on the edge of the couch, leaning forward on their elbows, hands clasped. He mused to himself at how much alike they were, in mannerisms, in small things. They watched him…waiting.. 

 

_“Thirty seconds...”_

 

The audible ‘ding’ of the elevator being occupied floated towards them. It was on the way up.  
   
Jungkook slid forward on the man’s lap, shifting his weight to keep the other’s hips pinned. From this position he was a bit elevated, looking down on him. 

The man was looking up at him and didn’t seem concerned.  
When he spoke for the first time since entering the libary, the voice that came was soft and kind, and just loud enough for Jungkook to hear.   
”Do you even know what you are?”

Even now, that voice was too familiar, to intertwined with every single part of Jungkook to not be soothing to him. It was a slap in the face. Intentionally cruel. The man seemed pleased with whatever flash of confliction he'd seen in the maknae's expression. Jungkook let the smugness in his eyes stoke his anger.

He responded to the question by reaching down and retrieving the ten inch knife Hoseok had placed underneath the chair, and held it in front of the man's face.  The man smiled then, a genuine reaction as it was full of malice.

 

_“Twenty seconds….”_

 

Jerry glanced. Everyone was where they needed to be. ..

  
Emerson’s ass cheeks were clenched and his forehead was pressed into the wall with about the same amount of intensity. He whispered the only thing he could think of, he didn’t know how he even remember the words, a prayer his grandmother used to say with him before bed when he was a kid. Prayers from the corner, yet, whatever was inside him, compeling him to self destruct made him want to break Jimin’s rule and turn around. He wanted to look.

He risked a glance behind him just in time to see Jimin and Taehyung, They were standing side by side and the air surrounding them was a solid thing, he could see it. It was still slightly translucent, he could see what was behind them, around them, but it was all distorted. The air around the two men moved like a heat wave, a shimmer. But unlike a heat shimmer, it stopped, changed direction even, moved back and forward. It was alive. It pulled along their bodies, disturbing the fabric of their clothes, tousling hair,  it was…Emerson felt his insanity... _caressing_ them.

He shut his eyes and opened them again. Nope, still there. This time he noticed, as they stood together, the shimmering space behaved differently between them. The shimmer around each man had a different range of colors. Even the speed at which it moved, and it's density was unique to each of them.

  
Emerson shut his eyes again, squeezing them hard until he saw spots. He was trying to memorize it. He had to write about this. But already he wasn’t sure what he saw.  He knew he couldn’t keep it, he was losing his mind. What was real?…

  
He opened his eyes to check again, and saw that thing around them had doubled in size. It pushed forward towards the center of the room and spiraled upwards towards the ceiling.

And Jimin was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. Emerson legs felt like they were about to go. Jimin and Taehyung-- Taehyung was extraordinary! his blue hair was being tousled around his face, as if by wind, but it was  in slow motion….and his _eyes_ … Emerson felt fresh, hot drops on his cheeks and realized he was crying again..

  
Jimin caught him staring, and stared back. Emerson stopped breathing, and when that beautiful angel mimed the way his eyelids would come off, the journalist flung himself around, squeezed his cheeks together and prayed his gran’s prayer.

 

_“Ten.  Nine…eight…seven…”_

Namjoon and Hoseok watched the numbers on the elevator light up in ascending order…

 

For the first time since being brought into the library, the man at the center spoke for everyone. His eyes flicked to the blade between them and back to Jungkook's face. “I hope you have a plan B.”

 

  
 _“…three…two….”_  
   
The elevator doors slid open, and a petite woman they all knew stepped off at a breakneck pace. She was dressed in one of the tailored business suits they usually saw her in, carrying a bag over her shoulder. She was out of breath as she approached the common room, the sound of her heels rapping the marble floor. She was on her phone, speaking rapidly to her husband. He was a CEO of the company. She was telling him Namjoon had '911-ed' her, that there was a level one incident at the building, and she was just arriving and would call him back when she knew more. The call was definitely long distance, he was in Korea. 

When she was ten feet from the elevator, she finally looked up and saw Namjoon. Her eyes lit up when she smiled at him, and there was a loud pop across the library as Jerry fired one bullet into her chest. Her knees buckled and she dropped to the floor, her phone careening cross the marble to smack into Namjoon's shoe.

 

 

As soon as the man had spoken, Jin knew two things:

1 They were absolutely doing the right thing.

2\. It wasn’t going to work.

He looked quickly at Taehyung, who was giving him the same knowing look. But Taehyung was already on his feet standing next to Jimin and the air was leaving the room. It was starting.

 

 

The woman fell, and Jungkook ignored everything after that. He didn't care that Jerry was snapping off shots at a steady pace, or what the others were doing that made the room feel like a fist closing... He was in a rage and he finally had what he wanted.

He looked into the face of a man he'd loved most of his life, and plunged the blade into his chest.

**Author's Note:**

> I had the synopsis up on Twitter and ppl from gc asked what their four companies are. It's talked about later during the story, but they are:
> 
> Big Hit  
> BTS  
> BT21  
> BH Films


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